1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicles, and more particularly to a vehicle that includes a braking force application device which executes braking force holding control which holds braking force during a stop on a slope irrespective of a braking operation of a driver.
2. Description of Related Art
As this type of the vehicle, a system that controls a holding state of brake pressure of the vehicle based on a slope state of a road where the vehicle is situated has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-329671 (JP-A-10-329671), for example). Such the vehicle performs brake hold control at a brief stop on an uphill slope and reduces the brake pressure when a clutch is partially engaged. On the other hand, when the vehicle makes a brief stop on a downhill slope, the brake hold control is released. By such the control, the vehicle is prevented from rolling backward at an uphill start, and also from starting suddenly at a downhill start.
However, the controlling is not considered for the vehicle described above when a shift position is in a neutral position during the brief stop on the uphill slope or the downhill slope. Thus, if the brake hold control is performed when the shift position is in the neutral position during the brief stop on an uphill slope, and if a driver shifts the shift position to the neutral position and tries to make a downhill driving with braking operations, the vehicle does not make a downhill movement due to the brake hold control, and unexpected movement of the vehicle for the driver provides a sense of discomfort to the driver.